This paper examined the contentious issues in the relationship between religion and culture. This relationship appeared to have been cordial and crucial for the corporate existence and development of the society. Although religion and culture are closely knit, there are issues of contention between them. However, these are two concepts or phenomena that exist together for the good of the society. In discovering the issues, the researcher adopted the literary method of study and examined the subject from that perspective. This (...) paper revealed that there is culture in religion as there is religion in culture. These two elements of society (religion and culture) play different roles to keep the society functional. Notably too, religion give meaning to culture. However, the major findings suggest the checking of the excesses of culture over religion to help develop a peaceful and socially conducive atmosphere for the people. This paper further recommended that religion should be given opportunity to shape and reform culture for the benefit of man. (shrink)

This paper examines the contentious issues in the relationship between religion and culture. This relationship appears to have been cordial and crucial for the corporate existence and development of the society. Although religion and culture are closely knit, there are issues of contention between them. However, these are two concepts or phenomena that exist together for the good of the society. In discovering the issues, the researcher adopts the literary method of study and examines the subject from that perspective. This (...) paper revealed that there is culture in religion as there is religion in culture. These two elements of society (religion and culture) play different roles to keep the society functional. Notably too, religion give meaning to culture. However, our findings suggest the checking of the excesses of culture over religion to help develop a peaceful and socially conducive atmosphere for the people. This paper further recommends that religion should be given opportunity to shape and reform culture for the benefit of man. (shrink)

The movement of people from one country to another in search of greener pasture, peaceful settlement and so on, has become very rampant in the world today. These same reasons have triggered internal migrations as well. Lives have been lost in the bid to circumvent immigration laws of countries by immigrants. The current spate of wars, political crises, natural disasters and hunger has led to increase in illegal migration in the world. Nigeria is not left out. We hear of boundary (...) clashes and insurgencies, which have resulted in illegal emigration to other countries basically in search of job opportunities and better living conditions. Nigerians have severally been repatriated from foreign lands. Recently, over five thousand Nigerians were repatriated from Libya. Nigeria has also played host to migrants from neighbouring countries, and has experienced internal migration in several parts of the country. The frequently asked questions are: “what role can religion play in curbing the spate of illegal migration and refugee crises in Cross River State, Nigeria? The research discovered that religion can be a veritable partner to government in resolving this ever-increasing menace that has become an embarrassment to the state and nation. This work adopted qualitative or explorative research method. It employed the content analysis approach in examining available printed materials on the subject matter. In view of its peculiarity, oral interviews were conducted on specific groups and individuals. This work proposes the involvement of religious organisations in preaching and teaching on the dangers of illegal migration, the provision of vocational training for our teaming youth population to reduce emigration, and the provision of counselling and resettlement programmes for the repatriated and those in refugee camps across the country. The work also encourages the government to evolve modalities to curb the spate of violence and bloodshed that has fuelled refugee crises in Cross River State and Nigeria in general. (shrink)

Evil is the opposite of good. This phenomenon has unleashed serious threat to human existence. The problem is that it is difficult to understand and even to deal with. Evil is a subject that hasdefied solution politically, socially or religiously. This paper examined the issue of the origin,effect and ways of dealing with evil for a better society. The research adopted the historical andliterary methods of research. Various views are examined. Findings affirmed that God createdevil as well as good. However, (...) this view challenged the omnipotence and the goodness of God. The research identified bloodshed, corruption, demonic activities, human trafficking, child abuseand child dumping/abuse and many others as social vices associated with evil. This researchrecommends that man should learn to live with it, overcome it with good, while religious groupsshould lead in the campaign to end evil and/or reduce its effect on society. (shrink)

God is usually taken to be a necessarily existing being who is unsurpassably powerful, knowledgeable and good. Theism is conceptualized in a single being that is monotheism in some religions and polytheism that is more than one being in some others. Yet some others see theism in everything of human concern that is pantheism. The doctrine of God is strong-minded by means of the religious experiences of men and evident in the conduct of such religious persons. This work intends to (...) show here, the points of similarities and dissimilarities between the concept of theism in Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. This work exposed among others that their major point of way out is that in Christianity, there is a distinctive and central teaching concerning Jesus Christ as unique incarnations, the word of God, pre-eminently manifested in a historic person, on the ground that his moral character perfectly represents the character and purpose of the invisible holy God. While Islam, and Sikhism, have no such doctrine, or theory of incarnation. (shrink)

The study investigated the awareness and utilization of electronic databases by university undergraduates in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. It adopted a descriptive survey design with a study population of 1,116 registered undergraduates-users of Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU) library and Ritman University Library. 224 undergraduates were selected using the proportionate stratified sampling technique. Observation checklist, structured questionnaire and unstructured interview were used to collect data for the study. 224 copies of the questionnaire were distributed, but 186 copies were completed and (...) retrieved. The data collected were analyzed using frequency count, simple percentage, mean scores and standard deviations, with a criterion mean of 2.50. The study revealed that HINARI, EBSCOHOST, JSTOR, Science Direct, AGORA, AJOL, OARE, ARDI, and GOALI are available in the university libraries studied. It revealed a very low extent of awareness and utilization of electronic databases. It found that the major problems associated with the awareness and utilization of electronic databases by the undergraduates include: lack of adequate awareness of available electronic databases, erratic power supply, poor search and retrieval skills, poor Internet connectivity and access, inadequate electronic databases in relevant fields of studies, etc. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among other measures, that the management of universities should provide adequate funds for university libraries to subscribe to more relevant and useful electronic databases across various academic disciplines, and provide adequate infrastructure such as constant power supply and internet bandwidth to university libraries. (shrink)

Kierkegaard’s Concepts is a comprehensive, multi-volume survey of the key concepts and categories that inform Kierkegaard’s writings. Each article is a substantial, original piece of scholarship, which discusses the etymology and lexical meaning of the relevant Danish term, traces the development of the concept over the course of the authorship, and explains how it functions in the wider context of Kierkegaard’s thought. Concepts have been selected on the basis of their importance for Kierkegaard’s contributions to philosophy, theology, the social sciences, (...) literature and aesthetics, thereby making this volume an ideal reference work for students and scholars in a wide range of disciplines. -/- Contents: Envy, Janne Kylliäinen; Epic, Nassim Bravo Jordán; Epigram, David R. Law; Ethics, Azucena Palavicini Sánchez; Evil, Azucena Palavicini Sánchez and William McDonald; Exception/Universal, Geoffrey Dargan; Existence/Existential, Min-Ho Lee; Experience, Jakub Marek; Fairytale, Nathaniel Kramer; Faith, William McDonald; Finitude/Infinity, Erik M. Hanson; Forgiveness, John Lippitt; Freedom, Diego Giordano; Genius, Steven M. Emmanuel; God, Paul Martens and Daniel Marrs; Good, Azucena Palavicini Sánchez; Governance/Providence, Jack Mulder, Jr.; Grace, Derek R. Nelson; Gratitude, Corey Benjamin Tutewiler; Guilt, Erik M. Hanson; Happiness, Benjamin Miguel Olivares Bøgeskov; Hero, Sean Anthony Turchin; History, Sean Anthony Turchin; Holy Spirit, Leo Stan; Hope, William McDonald; Humility, Robert B. Puchniak; Humor, Alejandro González; Hypocrisy, Thomas Martin Fauth Hansen; Identity/Difference, Claudine Davidshofer; Imagination, Frances Maughan-Brown; Imitation, Leo Stan; Immanence/Transcendence, Leo Stan; Immediacy/Reflection, Zizhen Liu; Immortality, Lee C. Barrett; Incognito, Martijn Boven. (shrink)

Kierkegaard's Concepts is a comprehensive, multi-volume survey of the key concepts and categories that inform Kierkegaard's writings. Each article is a substantial, original piece of scholarship, which discusses the etymology and lexical meaning of the relevant Danish term, traces the development of the concept over the course of the authorship, and explains how it functions in the wider context of Kierkegaard's thought. Concepts have been selected on the basis of their importance for Kierkegaard's contributions to philosophy, theology, the social sciences, (...) literature and aesthetics, thereby making this volume an ideal reference work for students and scholars in a wide range of disciplines. (shrink)

Kierkegaard’s Concepts is a comprehensive, multi-volume survey of the key concepts and categories that inform Kierkegaard’s writings. Each article is a substantial, original piece of scholarship, which discusses the etymology and lexical meaning of the relevant Danish term, traces the development of the concept over the course of the authorship, and explains how it functions in the wider context of Kierkegaard’s thought. Concepts have been selected on the basis of their importance for Kierkegaard’s contributions to philosophy, theology, the social sciences, (...) literature and aesthetics, thereby making this volume an ideal reference work for students and scholars in a wide range of disciplines. (shrink)

Kierkegaard’s Concepts is a comprehensive, multi-volume survey of the key concepts and categories that inform Kierkegaard’s writings. Each article is a substantial, original piece of scholarship, which discusses the etymology and lexical meaning of the relevant Danish term, traces the development of the concept over the course of the authorship, and explains how it functions in the wider context of Kierkegaard’s thought. Concepts have been selected on the basis of their importance for Kierkegaard’s contributions to philosophy, theology, the social sciences, (...) literature and aesthetics, thereby making this volume an ideal reference work for students and scholars in a wide range of disciplines. (shrink)

Kierkegaard’s Concepts is a comprehensive, multi-volume survey of the key concepts and categories that inform Kierkegaard’s writings. Each article is a substantial, original piece of scholarship, which discusses the etymology and lexical meaning of the relevant Danish term, traces the development of the concept over the course of the authorship, and explains how it functions in the wider context of Kierkegaard’s thought. Concepts have been selected on the basis of their importance for Kierkegaard’s contributions to philosophy, theology, the social sciences, (...) literature and aesthetics, thereby making this volume an ideal reference work for students and scholars in a wide range of disciplines. (shrink)

Kierkegaard’s Concepts is a comprehensive, multi-volume survey of the key concepts and categories that inform Kierkegaard’s writings. Each article is a substantial, original piece of scholarship, which discusses the etymology and lexical meaning of the relevant Danish term, traces the development of the concept over the course of the authorship, and explains how it functions in the wider context of Kierkegaard’s thought. Concepts have been selected on the basis of their importance for Kierkegaard’s contributions to philosophy, theology, the social sciences, (...) literature and aesthetics, thereby making this volume an ideal reference work for students and scholars in a wide range of disciplines. (shrink)

Business ethics literature regularly examines obligations of firms. This article examines the contrary and relatively under‐explored notion of obligations of stakeholders. It does so by discussing incidents of sexual misconduct arising under the umbrella of the #MeToo movement. This article explores how the theory of stakeholder responsibility can aid firms in understanding and addressing complex issues associated with stakeholder irresponsibility. It examines the moral responsibilities of regime members in the context of #MeToo incidents to provide a conceptual framework for firms (...) addressing issues associated with irresponsible stakeholder actions. (shrink)

(2013). The “Difficult Patient” Conundrum in Sickle Cell Disease in Kenya: Complex Sociopolitical Problems Need Wide Multidimensional Solutions. The American Journal of Bioethics: Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 20-22. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2013.767960.

BackgroundThe safety of sleeping pills has increased dramatically during the last 100 years, from barbiturates to bensodiazepines to modern day so-called Z-drugs.MethodsThe circumstances of prescribing sleeping pills in the early 20th century are illustrated by summarizing the main storyline of a novel by Swedish writer Vilhelm Moberg. This is followed by a thought experiment and a theoretical discussion.ResultsIn his 1937 novel Sömnlös (Swedish for sleepless) Vilhelm Moberg portrayed existential and relational distress in relation to insomnia. In a thought experiment, past (...) progresses in sleeping pills safety are projected into the future. Thereby, it is claimed that important issues in the area of philosophy of medicine come to the fore. This leads to a theoretical discussion about broader questions concerning the role of the physician, the goals of medicine (as described by Lennart Nordenfelt), the concept of pharmaceuticalisation (as described notably by sociologist of sleep Simon J. Williams and co-workers), and health enhancement (c.f. Carl Elliott and the alleged wish to be better than well).ConclusionInsomnia is a prism through which important philosophical and sociological questions related to the practice of medicine can be asked. (shrink)

Bernard Williams drew our attention to what might be wrong with denying the role of luck in our understanding of agency and responsibility. Susan Wolf and David Enoch, in separate works, have asked us to focus instead on what might be virtuous and valuable in embracing that role, and on how our institutions might assist us in that regard. They claim that the agent who ‘takes’ a responsibility that law or morality do not already assign to them may be (...) displaying a special moral virtue or exercising a distinctive moral power. I raise some objections to Wolf’s and Enoch’s case for that claim, and query some of its purported institutional implications for tort law systems. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Journal of the History of Ideas 61.4 (2000) 691-698 [Access article in PDF] Hume, Race, and Human Nature Emmanuel C. Eze Introduction John Immerwahr recently wrote in the Journal of the History of Ideas, "While Hume is generally known as an enemy of prejudice and intolerance, he is also infamous as a proponent of philosophical racism." 1 I am intrigued by this suggestion that Hume's is a "philosophical (...) racism"; one wonders: how many brands of racisms are there? What does "philosophical" racism mean? Assuming that philosophical racism is something which we wish to take notice of, what part of Hume's philosophy sustains it? How much of Hume's philosophy may be affected by this, and how profound?On the surface it seems not to make sense to ask, for example, how profound Hume's "philosophical racism" is or how deeply racist his philosophical works may be. The question appears contrived because, currently, every reference in the literature seem to point to only a footnote: I am apt to suspect the Negroes and in general all other species of men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites. There never was a civilized nation of any other complexion than white, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation. No ingenious manufacturers amongst them, no arts, no sciences. On the other hand, the most rude and barbarous of the whites, such as the ancient GERMANS, the present TARTARS, have still something eminent about them, in their valour, form of government, or some other particular. Such a uniform and constant difference could not happen, in so many countries and ages, if nature had not made an original distinction betwixt these breeds of men. Not to mention our colonies, there are NEGROE slaves dispersed all over EUROPE, of which none ever discovered [End Page 691] any symptoms of ingenuity; tho' low people, without education, will start up amongst us, and distinguish themselves in every profession. In JAMAICA, indeed, they talk of one negroe as a man of parts and learning; but 'tis likely he is admired for very slender accomplishments, like a parrot, who speaks a few words plainly. 2This was added, between 1753 and 1754, to the essay "Of National Characters." It was also revised in the final edition of the Essays: Moral, Political and Literary, which Hume had prepared shortly before he died in 1777. 3 Meanwhile, the original version of "Of National Characters" was written in 1748.An equally reasonable point of view on the matter, however, is to show that, far from being philosophically unimportant or an after-thought, the footnote, both its addition several years after the original essay was written and its maintenance in the subsequent revisions by Hume, suggests that the ideas expressed therein were important to the author and, significantly, to the arguments of "Of National Characters." It is known that by 1770 James Beattie, in An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth, in Opposition to Sophistry and Skepticism, had extensively criticized "Of National Character," specifically the note under consideration. Hume was aware of this and other criticisms and responded or commented on them in letters to friends, among other places. In a letter to his friend and publisher, William Straham, later published in London Chronicle (12-14 June 1777), Hume discussed dismissively criticisms from Thomas Reid and James Beattie, referring to the latter as "a bigoted silly fellow." 4 The fact that it survived Hume's multiple revisions and remained part of the Essays and was publicly defended from criticisms invites one not to dismiss this lengthy addition as marginal to Hume's thought but rather to determine why he might have felt it needed to be added in the first place, revised, and critically defended in what is now its definitive version. Relevant specific questions would be: why, of all other possible places (I have in mind, for example, a comparable essay "Of the populousness of ancient nations"), was the footnote added here? How does the opinion in this note relate to... (shrink)

Dans une célèbre conférence, Ludwig Wittgenstein affirme que l'éthique, répondant " au désir de dire quelque chose du sens ultime de la vie ", ne peut être une science. L'éthique serait-elle donc dénuée de sens? Serait-il vain pour un philosophe d'y consacrer ses réflexions? Non, car " elle porte témoignage d'un penchant de l'esprit humain ", que Wittgenstein estime " profondément respectable ". Il nous faut relire le Tractatus. La conception du sens et du non-sens qui y figure est devenue (...) le sujet d'un intense et acerbe débat. Allan Janik, qui préface le présent ouvrage, écrit : " Soyons reconnaissants à Emmanuel Halais de nous offrir une vue d'ensemble qui permet d'analyser les complexités de ce débat, ainsi qu'une défense lucide de la position de Wittgenstein dans sa relation historique à des penseurs tels que William James, Otto Weininger et Arthur Schopenhauer ". On découvre, au cœur de la pensée de Wittgenstein, l'énigme de l'existence. (shrink)

Reconciling the existence of a perfectly good God with the reality of evil in the world seems to be an impossible - or rather an unimaginable endeavour for some scholars. J. L. Mackie, for instance, maintains a logical incompatibility thesis, stating that three of the essential attributes of God, namely: omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence can not be consistently upheld like the theists maintain, in the face of the reality of evil and human suffering in the world. Scholars like William Rowe, (...) David Hume and J. S. Mill also contend that every instance or trace of evil and suffering in the actual human world makes the existence of the creator of the world who is also perfectly good at best, probable. However, some scholars have attempted to explain the compatibility of the existence of a perfectly good God with the reality of evil in the world. This very endeavour is known in philosophy of religion and theology as theodicy. There are four traditional types of theodicy: The Augustinian tradition, the Irananaean tradition, the Hickian Soul making tradition and process theodicy. Using the methods of analysis and critical argumentation, we attempt a critical re-evaluation of these theodicies in this paper. Our critical investigation reveals that these theodicies inhere some weaknesses which render them insufficient in the rationalisation of the compatibility of the existence of a perfectly good God with the reality of evil in the world. The problems with each of the theodicies are meticulously explained in the paper. (shrink)

Patents are negative legal rights that act as stop signs to prevent non-innovators from making, using, or selling inventions without expressed permission from inventors. Infringements on patents are serious violations from the legal and ethical perspectives. It is therefore not surprising, that there were mixed feelings when the Supreme Court of India rejected Novartis’s patent protection claim against the Indian pharmaceutical production of the generic version of Gleevec. In the wake of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Brazil, South Africa, and Thailand defiantly (...) broke international protocols on patent protection and manufactured patented medicines for their citizens at relatively affordable prices.[i] It is important to note here that these countries are all signatories to the World Trade Organizations’ Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.[ii] This leads one to question why these countries infringed on such laws that they have made a commitment to keep. Should there be legal consequences for stark violations of these laws? Are these actions ethical? To what extent should there be a sense of accountability in these matters? This paper examines the arguments for sustaining international patents and explanations for patent infringements, especially when there are serious medical needs of pandemic and global proportions within the context of TRIPS and ethical principles. Scope The first part of the paper will examine some treatises or applicable laws on international patents. The second part will analyze reasons why certain patents may be infringed especially in the context of South Africa, and I will then conclude with some ethical arguments for making essential medicines accessible within the framework of patent laws. Background In the wake of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, the governments of Thailand, South Africa, and Brazil issued compulsory licenses for the importation and manufacture of the generic versions of some essential antiretroviral medicines in line with the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Article 31, which inter alia grants exemptions for infringements when there are health emergencies. While these decisions were accepted internationally as bold and novel, patent holders challenged the legality of infringing upon such patents. Furthermore, patent holders argued tacitly that the reasons given for patent infringements were not health emergencies per se, challenging Thailand’s issuance of compulsory license for the generic versions of Plavix – used for treating patients with heart diseases – as a violation of WTO international laws. On the other hand, many have suggested that infringements of patents should be construed or judged on a case by case basis. But is it true that international laws such as WTO’s TRIPS prohibit such infringements? Or do these laws/agreement actually support such actions? Are these international norms inadequate? If so, why, and further, how could these be resolved? Why is the South African case significant in 1996? What impact could it have on the world? In perspective, the South Africa case is significant for many reasons and I intend to contextualize it. It is instructive to note that demographically, SA had a total population of 40.5 million people; 50 percent were black, 13.6 percent were white, 8 percent mixed race and 2.06 percent Indians. Unemployment was at 31 percent with a per capita income of $2,700, compared to $37,500 in the United States. At the peak of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in 1996, about 20 percent of all adults were living with the disease in SA alone. It was obvious that the cost of treatment for HIV/AIDS – pegged at $12, 000 per year at the time – far exceeded any financial capacity of the victims. The proportions were higher in places like Johannesburg and some mining cities. Furthermore, only 20 percent of the population was covered by adequate private health insurance while the rest relied on a public health system fraught by "irrational use of resources, poor working conditions, and inadequate infrastructure."[iii] Faced with this existential public health pandemic and national emergency, the South African government made reforms to their health sector and passed the Medicines Act Amendments of 1997 and in particular granted certain legal powers to the Minister of Health such as: prescribe the conditions on which any medicine which is identical in composition, meets the same quality standard and is intended to have the same proprietary name as that of another medicine already registered in the Republic, but which is imported by a person other than the person who is the holder of the registration certificate of the medicine already registered and which originates from any site of manufacture of the original manufacturer as approved by the council in the prescribed manner, may be imported; and prescribe the registration procedure for, as well as the use of, the medicine referred… The rationale among other things was ostensibly to provide affordable antiretroviral medicines for the victims of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The promulgation of these laws and the subsequent issuances of licenses were received with mixed feelings evidenced in many protests and legal actions. Many legal scholars believe the bone of contention was the insertion of Section 15Cinto the South African Medicines and Related Substances Control Act. The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of South Africa filed a complaint with the Public Protector of South Africa alleging that some officials of the Ministry of Health of SA created distorted and offensive statements, thus creating "a perception in the minds of the general public that medicines in South Africa are unreasonably expensive and moreover that the blame for such expensive medicines lies with the manufacturing and primary importing companies”.[iv] In February 1998, the pharmaceutical companies filed a lawsuit before the High Court of South Africa contesting the legality of MRSCA and patent infringements.[v] But was this lawsuit justified? Which laws and legal precedents serve as the prima facie case for this lawsuit? How does SA counter this lawsuit? In attempt to answer these questions, the next sections will examine a medley of these applicable and relevant laws. Relevant Laws and Precedents In February 1998, pharmaceutical companies filed a lawsuit before the High Court of South Africa alleging that SA was violating international laws such as Article 27 of TRIPS, as well Articles 25, 44, and 231 of the SA constitution which prohibits the use of patents without permission and compensation. The lawsuits in part states: 2.4 it is discriminatory in respect of the enjoyment of patent rights in the pharmaceutical field which discrimination is in conflict with the provisions of Article 27 of the Trade Relates Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement [hereinafter referred to as the "TRIPS Agreement"], an international agreement binding the Republic and to which Parliament has given effect by the promulgation of the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act, No. 38 of 1997, and consequently such provision is in conflict with Section 44 of the Constitution read with Sections 231 and 231 of the Constitution;[vi] Each party to the lawsuit made references to international laws/agreements on patents as well as the SA Patents Act 57 of 1978. The first law in contention was the WTO TRIPS agreement which was promulgated in the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1994. GATT formed the basis for the formation of the World Trade Organization in 1995 which conferred intellectual protection to members of the organization, including patents rights. The WTO therefore enforces all intellectual property laws under the TRIPS. According to Section 28 of TRIPS, “A patent shall confer on its owner the following exclusive rights: where the subject matter of a patent is a product, to prevent third parties not having the owner’s consent from the acts of: making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes that product”.[vii] While TRIPS de facto stipulates protection of all intellectual property, laws including patents on pharmaceuticals, Articles 8, 30 and 31 respectively grants certain exemptions.[viii] SA countered these allegations by first responding that MRSCA was promulgated to grant powers to the Minister of Health in order to circumvent patents in consonant with Article 31 of TRIPS. This was because, before the promulgation of MRSCA, SA had limited legal powers to issue compulsory licenses under the Patents Act of 1978. But faced with such national pandemics, the SA government promulgated its new laws to ensure that victims of the HIV/AIDS would have access to affordable medicine which they asserted was consistent with international laws. It is important to note that the general public interest exemptions were stipulated in Article 8 of TRIPS which categorically requires members to “adopt measures necessary to protect public health…and to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance”. In addition Article 30 indicates that “Members may provide limited exceptions to the exclusive rights conferred by a patent” cognizant of the interests of third parties. And perhaps most significantly, Article 31 of TRIPS grants the use of patents by legitimate authorities without the authorization of patent holders in the case of national emergencies.[ix] In brief, both parties agreed on the substantive fact that there was a dire medical need, but the main issue was whether the insertion of Section 15C to the MRSCA contravened TRIPS as evident in the lawsuit. However, on April 19, 2001, 39 members of the pharmaceutical Trans-national Corporations, dropped the lawsuit against the South African government. The European Union and WTO supported the SA position, and later, SA pledged to comply with TRIPS agreements.[x] In summary, the SA government successfully contested its case within the scope of international laws such as TRIPS because HIV/AIDS was indeed a health emergency covered under the agreement. Also, the promulgation of MRSCA, in particular Section 15C, circumvented patent laws within the scope of the constitution. It was therefore not surprising that South Africa became the architects in drafting the agenda leading up to the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which reaffirmed patent protection as well as the public health challenges facing developing nations. Both the United States and Canada also expressed their willingness to use the Doha Declaration to override Bayer’s patent to manufacture Ciprofloxacine in case of a hypothetical outbreak of anthrax which could constitute a case of national emergency. The SA legal case therefore has become significant in clarifying and reaffirming WTO TRIPS. There are many ethical principles gleaned from the legal precedents above, and I intend to focus on some of these issues in the next section. Utilitarian Perspective One of the major contentions in patent infringements is that they serve to provide immediate, affordable, and accessible pharmaceuticals for more people in health emergencies such as pandemics. This line of thinking and justifications seemingly aligns with the ethical principle of utilitarianism. Jeremy Bentham posited an important question as to whether something is utilitarian by asking “What is the use of it? The theory or the principle of utility suggests that when one is confronted with moral choices or liberties, one has to choose an action that leads to the highest or maximal amount of pleasure or good for a greater number of people while concurrently minimizing any harm as much as possible. For utilitarians, an action is ethical if it is “useful”; hence the principle of utility. But utilitarianism is both quantitative and qualitative. Bentham further noted that an action is ethical if it maximizes the greatest amount of pleasure and minimizes pain by testing these actions against the “pleasure-pain calculus”. Mill added a quantitative component to Bentham’s theory by suggesting that an action is ethical if it brings about the greatest amount of pleasure for the greatest number of people. In brief the end justifies the means.[xi] Juxtaposing these strands of views on utilitarianism, it could be inferred that patent infringement is justified because it brings about a greater good for a greater number of people especially in the wake of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This may be accentuated by the fact that ordinarily, most patients in South Africa and Brazil could not have afforded the pricy anti-retroviral drug. By breaking the patents, these two countries were able to provide enough and affordable medications to their patients. Had the patents not been infringed, most probably, very few people could have afforded the anti-retroviral drug to the exclusion of the majority. Furthermore, by infringing on the patents, many lives were saved and thus quantitatively, the anti-retroviral drug was made available to many people and maximizing a useful purpose. Less “harm” was caused as many people benefited from breaking the patents. Furthermore, physical pain in the form of diseases were minimized and curtailed while optimizing some pleasure or happiness by improving the lives of the patients and their families. Economically, these nations have saved substantial amounts of their budgets on health care and could use these resources in other sectors of their local economies. Moreover, by producing these medications locally, they have also created some jobs for the local population. In brief, patent infringement under the aegis of the principle of utility may be deemed justified. Counter Arguments One of the major arguments against utilitarianism is that it is too reductionist with the tendency to cause the Lake-Wobegon effect. That is, it has the proclivity of reducing ethical choices to mere “pleasure” and “pain”. Overtly emphasizing the maximization of pleasure does not address the specific circumstances in each ethical decision. It dehumanizes morality. In the case of patent infringements, the principle of utility does not take into account the inventors and the companies who owned these patents and have invested substantial amount of time and resources in research and development. Most of them chose to work hard and endured lots of “pain” in order to obtain these patents. The question herein is, should society inflict pain on them by depriving them of their happiness as well? Would these inventors and investors be willing to sacrifice their resources in inventing other novel technologies and pharmaceuticals for the common good if their inventions are not incentivized? In brief, justifying the breaking of patents under the expediency of the principle of utilitarianism is fundamentally flawed and has the inherent tendency to truncate innovations and deny patents owners their rights.[xii] The second counter argument to the principle of utilitarianism is deontology. Deontologists such as Kant suggest that morality should be based on the set of universal normative principles that impose a categorical imperative on moral agents. [xiii] In evaluating a course of ethical action, one has to adhere to universal principle akin to a call to duty such that anyone, anytime, and anywhere may make the same ethical decision. As Kant summarizes: When I think of a categorical imperative I know at once what it contains. For, since the imperative contains, beyond the law, only the necessity that the maxim be in conformity with this law, while the law contains no condition to which it would be limited, nothing is left with which the maxim of action is to conform but the universality of a law as such... There is, therefore, only a single categorical imperative and it is this: act only in accordance with thatmaxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law. [xiv] In addition, the principle of deontology imposes an obligation on all people to never use another human being as a means to attain an end. In other words, the end does not justify the means. Hence, in dire humanitarian crises such as the HIV case, by breaking the patent, the government of these countries “used” the intellectual property of these patents to attain their own local or national needs. One cannot use the larger interest of the population to the exclusion of the investors or patent holders who have rights as well.[xv] In brief, patent infringements under the aegis of a national health emergency may be justified depending on what ethical principle one uses. But each position also has some weaknesses that need to be addressed from the ethical perspectives. Breaking a patent will obviously infringe upon the rights of patent holders even in such emergencies. The question then arises as to how to find some common grounds such that the larger humanitarian health needs are met while the individual and equally important rights of inventors are protected. But is that possible? This then begs the question of justice which will be the focus of the next section.[xvi] [xvii] Justice[xviii] Some proponents of patent infringements in humanitarian health crises contest that justice demands expeditious availability and accessibility of essential medical interventions to serve vulnerable populations. Justice as fairness means that legitimate governments have fiduciary responsibilities towards ensuring that the most vulnerable such as the victim of the HIV/AIDS pandemic have essential and life sustaining drugs even if it means temporarily interfering with rules governing patents. After all, no human life is replaceable; hence every measure to preserve life must and ought to be taken.[xix] It is important to note at this juncture that according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”.[xx] Everyone is guaranteed an equal protection of “life” which implicitly includes access to health care even in humanitarian crises such as an pandemic or the flu. Furthermore, the WTO TRIPS anticipated such emergencies and therefore stated among other things “…in situations of national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency, the right holder[of a patent] shall, nevertheless, be notified as soon as reasonably practicable”. Clearly, breaking patents has saved many lives; if countries in such health emergencies had not taken any action, the harm would have been egregiously high.[xxi] Another justified reason for patent infringements within the law may be construed around the cost for generics and in particular biologics. Currently, the pricing of biologics are very high and patents on biologics entail twelve years of exclusivity. For instant, Cerezyme is estimated to cost more than $ 150,000 per year per patient. This and the cost of many other biologics prompt many in the international community to suggest that breaking the patent to make biosimilars under the aegis of justice may be deemed ethical. Counter arguments[xxii] Patent infringement is a transgression of the rights of patent owners. In other words, patent owners and inventors have “equal” protections under the law, which includes according them justice for the use of their intellectual property. Equal protection under the auspices of justice as fairness means that society must ensure adequate compensation to patent owners as well. But in most of the cases, such as in South Africa, Brazil, and Thailand, patent owners have not been compensated even though their patents and innovations have been used in making pharmaceuticals and therapies to save lives. Essentially, they have been deprived of their legal rights to their ingenuity and inventions. It is ironic that violators of patents make a claim to justice and yet refused to accord the inventors their concurrent claim for a just use of their intellectual property. One wonders if this is actually fair. It is important to distinguish “actual demonstrable existential” and “good” reasons for breaking patents. In the case of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it clearly posed existential threat to both patients and the global health at large. Breaking a patent may be justified in this circumstance. However, we see in the case in Thailand, that their “good” reason was only to advance their own parochial economic need rather than existential public health crises. Such conduct cannot be justified under the expediency of justice.[xxiii] Non-maleficence& Beneficence One of the justified ethical reasons for patent infringements is the ethical principle of beneficence and, implicitly, non-maleficence. [xxiv] First is the issue of cost. As noted in my exposition so far, many of the pharmaceuticals made in developed countries are very expensive with many years of patent exclusivities without the generic versions. Consequently, without even a national emergency, there is always the temptation of breaking some of these patents for the benefit of the local population. This is evident in the case of Thailand and India, where pharmaceutical companies question the very logic of patenting if patented drugs are not generally and reasonably affordable. This is why some of these patents have been broken with impunity. In the case of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it was demonstrably evident that many patients could not afford $12,000 per year, especially in developing countries with abysmally low wages of $1 or less per day. Without breaking a patent, it is hard to see how these essential lifesaving drugs could have been afforded and accessed by those in dire need. In an ethical conundrum, risk ought to be shared to the extent that the most vulnerable are insulated.[xxv] Breaking a patent and making these drugs available should be weighed against the risks of losing these patients. The risks of not breaking a patent in a hypothetical case of anthrax could be higher and possibly catastrophic. This then leads to the third element, ‘benefit’. Who are the beneficiaries in such national emergencies? Are they the most vulnerable? Who determines and defines vulnerability? For the most part, countries like SA that have broken patents have seemingly justified their actions by arguing that their most “vulnerable” people were victims of HIV/AIDS. In addition, breaking a patent means that the cost of the generic versions would be reasonably low and therefore beneficial to all patients. Counter Arguments It may be argued that the world risks losing innovators if they should opt out from patenting their innovations and keep them private as trade secrets. If this occurs, it means that the larger society may not have access to valuable knowledge and these could be costly in the wake of humanitarian health crises. For instance, if scientist X decides to hide an essential therapeutic formulation that could potentially save many lives, it means that during a potential humanitarian crises, the larger society could pay dearly for it. In view of this, some have proposed that innovators should be “reasonably and properly” compensated after their patents are broken. Another counter argument is that patent infringement to develop generics does not and will not necessarily benefit the general public. A classic example is the case of Thailand, which has broken many patents for non-emergencies such as in the case of Plavix. The Thai government issued compulsory licenses for the importation of these pharmaceuticals from India, as well as for the production of the generic versions locally by invoking the TRIPS agreement. Obviously, heart diseases are not diseases of national emergencies of epidemic proportions, but the Thai government broke the rules with impunity. This is why, it has been suggested that breaking patents or allowing local governments to issue compulsory licenses on patents could be a bad precedent. Another counter argument is on counterfeits and issues of safety. Breaking of patents means most patent owners might not be able to monitor counterfeits on the open market. In addition, most developing countries might not have the facilities to safely produce these pharmaceuticals compared to the patent holders, and could potentially compromise the safety of patients as well. The ethical argument of beneficence is important because it seeks to balance risk allocations, costs, and benefits to the most vulnerable in society among others. Circumventing patent protection in order to provide lifesaving therapies could be justified especially as in the case of the HIV/AIDS case in South Africa. As the US and Canada have both indicated, they will break patents on Cipro in emergencies in order to save lives. Some Perspectives and Conclusion Inventors are granted certain exclusive protections by national and international laws such as the US Patent Laws as well as WTO’s TRIPS.[xxvi] Nonetheless, the TRIPS grants some exemptions for circumventing patents in the case of national emergencies such as epidemics. In the wake of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, TRIPS laws became a bone of contention between international pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and the government of South Africa, resulting in a subsequent lawsuit. Even though the lawsuit was later withdrawn, the case became a litmus test for breaking international laws on patents, as well as charting the path for the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. This paper has argued that patent infringement is legal within the context of international laws. In addition, this piece has analyzed patent circumventions through many ethical principles such as utilitarianism, the question of justice, and beneficence with allusion to non-maleficence. This analysis makes the case that it is possible to set aside stringent patent laws in the wake of emergencies. But it is important to ensure that inventors are properly compensated when such emergencies subside. If possible, tariffs could be imposed on all pharmaceuticals and given to WTO TRIPS oversight committee so that in the case of such emergencies, patent holders could still recoup some of the costs of research and development. In the case of exclusivities of twelve years on biologics, this paper contends that it may be prudent to reduce in order to prevent the likelihood of patent infringements under TRIPS. Furthermore, patents should be protected but each attempted infringement should be analyzed based on specific needs, and infringers should be sanctioned under the laws. In brief, the case of the HIV/AIDS pandemic throughout the world and especially in SA reverberated with a sense of urgency and emergency. I believe the actions of patent infringement within the context of Section 15C of MRSCA and the patent provisions of WTO was justified as millions of lives were saved. Scientific innovations and the law are geared toward improving the lives of every human being and the world – this is the human factor. And the human factor is the humane factor. REFERENCES [i] William W. Fisher III et al The South Africa AIDS Controversy: A Case Study in Patent Law and Policy in The Harvard Law School. The Law and Business of Patents [ii] WTO Intellectual Property - Overview of TRIPS Agreement [iii] South African Department of Health, National Drug Policy for South Africa 3. [iv] See Public Protector of the Republic of South Africa, Report on the Propriety of the Conduct of Members of the Ministry and Department of Health Relating to Statements in Connection with the Prices of Medicines and Utilisation of Generic Medicines in South Africa, Special Report No. 6 [v] See Notice of Motion in the High Court of South Africa, Case No. 4183/98 [vi] Notice of Motion in the High Court of South Africa, Case No. 4183/98 [vii] See www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips_04c_e.htm [viii] See Naomi A. Bass, Note, Implications of the TRIPS Agreement for Developing Countries: Pharmaceutical Patent Laws in Brazil and South Africa in the 21st Century in Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. 191, 210 Vol 34. Also Marjorie Cohn, The World Trade [viii]Organization: Elevating Property Interests Above Human Rights, in Ga. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 427, 435-37 Vol. 29. [ix] It is important to point out that here that the TRIPS agreements especially on circumventing patents in the wake of national emergencies were reaffirmed in the Doha Declarations [x] Rachel Swarns, Drug Makers Drop South Africa Suit Over AIDS Medicine in The New York Times p. A1 [xi] Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation [xii] William W. Fisher et al. See also Lissett Ferreira Access to Affordable HIV/AIDS Drugs: The Human Rights Obligations of Multinational Pharmaceutical Corporations in Fordham Law Review Volume 71 [xiii] Immanuel Kant Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals [xiv] Kant Groundwork 4:420-1 [xv]Tom Beauchamp et al. Principles of Biomedical Ethics. See Marjorie Cohn, The World Trade Organization: Elevating Property Interests Above Human Rights, 29 Ga. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 427, 435-37 [xvi] Beauchamp et al. 197 [xvii] Ibid. See also Theodore C. Bailey, Note, Innovation and Access: The Role of Compulsory Licensing in the Development and Distribution of HIV/AIDS Drugs, 2001 U. I11. J.L. Tech. & Pol'y 193, 202-04.36 [xviii] Beauchamp et al p197. Also Norman Daniels Justice, Health, and Healthcare in American Journal of Bioethics, p2-16. John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, p6 [xix] Ibid [xx] Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Rights [xxi] Theodore Bailey. 202-04 [xxii] Beauchamp. P197-198 [xxiii] Ibid [xxiv] Ibid [xxv] Ibid [xxvi] U.S. Patent Laws, Regulations, Policies & Procedures. (shrink)

"Applies Emmanuel Levinas's thought in approaching environmental philosophy from both humanistic and nonanthropocentric points of view, arguing that themes at the heart of his work--the significance of the ethical, responsibility, alterity, the vulnerability of the body, bearing witness, and politics--are important for thinking about many of our most pressing contemporary environmental questions" --Provided by publisher.

Văn khắ c Chămpa tại Ba̓ o tàng ̃ Điêu khắ c Chăm–Đà Nă ̃ ng. The Inscriptions of Campā at the Museum of Cham Sculpture in Đà Năng. By Arlo Griffiths, Amandine Lepoutre, William A. Southworth, and Thành Phn. Published in collaboration between École française d’Extrême-Orient, Hanoi, and Center for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University H̀ô Chí Minh City. H̀ô Chí Minh: VNUHCM Publishing House, 2012. Pp. 288, 67 pl., 38 (...) photos. VND 170.000. (shrink)

Emmanuel Levinas' radical heteronomous ethics has received a great deal of scholarly attention. However, his political thought remains relatively neglected. This essay shows how Levinas moves from the anarchical, ethical relationship with the Other to the totalizing realm of politics with his phenomenology of the third person, the Third. With the appearance of the Third, the ego must respond to more than one Other. It must decide whom to respond to first. This decision leads the ego from the an-archical, (...) ethical realm to the realm of politics. Although the Third universalizes the an-archical relationship with the Other into the political realm, it does not supplant the original ethical relationship. Instead, there is a never-ending oscillation between ethics and politics. The world of institutions and impersonal justice must be held in check by the an-archical responsibility for the Other. Levinas calls for both an-archy and justice. (shrink)

In this article we examine some of the relations between behavior analysis and the pragmatic philosophy of William James. We point out that the adoption of effectiveness as a truth criterion is common to both systems, which warrants a closer examination of its implications. We present the Skinnerian concepts of knowledge, science, and truth as compatible with aspects of pragmatic philosophy; at the same time they emphasize the role of social contingencies posed by the scientific verbal community in the control (...) of scientific verbal behavior. We argue here that effectiveness, both in Skinner's radical behaviorism and in James' pragmatic philosophy, does not have the status of either independent or sufficient criterion to validate knowledge claims. We call attention to some generic and imprecise uses of that criterion in behavior-analytic literature and propose that a more consistent usage would involve subordinating effectiveness to a coherence criterion. (shrink)

This article affirms Peter Singer’s calls for universal benevolence and for animal liberation. Singer, however, is unable to provide grounds for his ethics and is unable to answer the question, “why act morally?” I suggest Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas unfolds an essentially Christian notion of agape that unveils a reasonable moral ground for ethics that answers the question, “why act morally?” A Levinasian ethic also forecloses some of Singer’s more notorious conclusions and better articulates and legitimates the moral dynamics (...) and ethical contentions that made Singer’s “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” and Animal Liberation so influential. (shrink)

The topic of this book is a fundamental philosophical question: why should I be moral? Philosophers have long been concerned with the legitimacy of morality's claim on us, especially with morality's ostensible aim to motivate certain actions of all persons unconditionally. While the problem of moral normativity - that is, the justification of the binding force of moral claims - has received extensive treatment analytic moral theory, little attention has been paid to the potential contribution that phenomenology might make to (...) this central debate in metaethics. -/- In The Phenomenology of Moral Normativity, William H. Smith takes up the question of morality's legitimacy anew, drawing contemporary moral philosophers, particularly Christine Korsgaard and Stephen Darwall, into conversation with present-day phenomenologists like John Drummond and the phenomenological philosophy of Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Emmanuel Levinas. -/- The results of this juxtaposition are surprising: utilizing a two-part account of moral normativity, Smith contends that the ground of morality itself is second-personal, rooted in the ethical demand intrinsic to other persons, while the ground for particular moral-obligations is first-personal, rooted in the subject's avowal or endorsement of certain moral norms within a concrete historical situation. Thus, Smith argues that phenomenological analysis allows us to make sense of an idea that has long held intuitive appeal, but that modern moral philosophy has been unable to render satisfactorily, namely, that the normative source of valid moral claims is simply other persons and what we owe to them. (shrink)

Emmanuel Levinas' radical heteronomous ethics has received a great deal of scholarly attention. However, his political thought remains relatively neglected. This essay shows how Levinas moves from the an-archical, ethical relationship with the Other to the totalizing realm of politics with his phenomenology of the third person, the Third. With the appearance of the Third, the ego must respond to more than one Other. It must decide whom to respond to first. This decision leads the ego from the an-archical, (...) ethical realm to the realm of politics. Although the Third universalizes the an-archical relationship with the Other into the political realm, it does not supplant the original ethical relationship. Instead, there is a never-ending oscillation between ethics and politics. The world of institutions and impersonal justice must be held in check by the an-archical responsibility for the Other. Levinas calls for both an-archy and justice. Key Words: Derrida • ethics • Levinas • liberalism • the Other • politics • responsibility • said • saying • the Third. (shrink)

Our global community desperately needs overt awakening to an age of reason and faith. Reasonable Faith for a Post-Secular Age meets this need by interpreting faith not in terms of belief in propositions but in terms of living surrender to having been seized by agape for every Face, including one's own. Virtually all faith traditions, from Buddhism to Humanism to Wiccan, are rooted in agape and therefore share considerable spiritual and ethical common ground (a truth long veiled). In contrast to (...) ethically feckless secular rationality--over which a devastating, global social Darwinism currently runs roughshod--faith qua living surrender to agape grounds moral realism, awakens us to love for all creatures, and inspires struggles for justice. Inspired by the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas and Christian spirituality, Greenway engages, on the one hand, intellectuals like Stanley Hauerwas, Richard Rorty, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Jeffery Stout, Charles Taylor, and Bernard Williams, and, on the other, contemporary debates over consciousness, free will, evil, and metaethics. He details the character of secular rationality's devastating scission from moral reality and clarifies the promise of understanding faith and spirituality in terms of agape. (shrink)

This is a groundbreaking application of contemporary philosophy to human rights law that proposes significant innovations for the progressive development of human rights. Drawing on the works of prominent 'philosophers of the Other' including Emmanuel Levinas, Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak, Judith Butler and, most centrally, the Argentine philosopher of liberation Enrique Dussel, this book develops an ethics based on concrete face-to-face relationships with the Marginalized Other. It proposes that this should inspire a human rights law that is grounded in transcendental (...) justice and framed from the perspective of marginalized groups. This would continuously deconstruct the original violence found in all human rights treaties and tribunals and promote preferential treatment for the marginalized. It would be especially attentive to such issues as access to justice, voice, representation, agency and responsibility. This differs markedly from more conventional theories that prioritize the autonomy of the ego, state sovereignty, democracy and/or equality. (shrink)

Emmanuel Levinas's political thought is best understood as a tension between an-archy and justice. Levinas claims that the aim of philosophy has most often been a search for an arche, or a neuter term that accounts for all of reality. Levinas argues that the reduction of reality to an arche obliterates all transcendence and subordinates man to a totality. ;Against the predominance of totality in the Western tradition, Levinas proposes a philosophy of transcendence. This transcendence is not found in (...) the direct relationship with God, but in the face of the other person, the Other. Since the face of the Other cannot be thematized, it calls the sovereignty of the ego into question. The ego is called to respond infinitely, concretely, and asymmetrically. Thus, Levinas establishes ethics without positing a fundamental arche. ;Levinas's philosophy moves from this an-archical, ethical relationship with the Other to the totalizing realm of politics with his phenomenology of the third person, the Third. With the appearanee of the Third, the ego must respond to more than one Other. The ego must decide whom to respond to first. This decision is the foundation of all politics. ;Although the Third universalizes the an-archical relationship with the Other into politics, it does not supplant the original ethical relationship. Instead, there is a never-ending oscillation between ethics and politics. The world of institutions and impersonal justice must be held in check by the an-archical responsibility for the Other. Levinas calls for both an-archy and justice. ;By establishing a tension between ethics and politics, Levinas's thought changes the foundations of modern political thought. Against the selfishness of the liberal state, Levinas proposes a heteronomous political thought, that is, a politics based on the Other. Against Hegelian totality, Levinas proposes a radical pluralism based on the irreducible alterity of the Other. This pluralism places the Other person, not the State or impersonal history, as the ultimate value. Thus, Levinas's heteronomous philosophy is a humanism, a humanism of the Other. (shrink)

This paper provides an analysis of suffering and compassion in the work of Emmanuel Levinas. Levinas describes compassion as ‘the nexus of human subjectivity’ and the ‘supreme ethical principle’. In his early texts, suffering discloses the burden of being, the limits of the self, and thus the approach of alterity. Levinas’s later phenomenology of suffering as passive, meaningless, and evil, functions as a refutation of rational explanations of suffering. I argue that Levinasian substitution, the traumatic election to an excessive (...) responsibility, is the compassionate suffering that Levinas terms the nexus of human subjectivity. For Levinas, ethics is the compassionate response to the vulnerable, suffering Other. (shrink)

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. Requires signed TDF. ;This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part is an investigation of the logic or the formal construction of the ethical relation described by Levinas. I argue that this relation has two forms: one in which the Other operates as a transcendent figure excluded from immanence, which I name exclusive separation, and the other, where it operates within immanence, which I name inclusive separation. This first form (...) of the ethical relation is the basis of Levinas' theory of language in Totality and Infinity, and probably constitutes the "orthodox" reading of Levinas' work. The second form of the relation can be traced from the the idea of the infinity to the descriptions of the self in Otherwise than Being. The second part approaches the difficult status of writing in Levinas' work. It is only in terms of second form of the ethical relation, and guided by Blanchot's reading of Levinas in L'Entretien infini , that the apparent conflict between writing and the demand of ethical responsibility can be thought. I suggest that the relation between ethics and writing ought to be conceived in terms of the practice of ambiguity or alternance, which Levinas himself outlines in his texts. (shrink)

This essay is an introduction to postmodernism and deconstruction as they relate to the special challenges of scholarship and teaching in the science and religion multidiscipline.

This essay is an introduction to postmodernism and deconstruction as they relate to the special challenges of scholarship and teaching in the science and religion multidiscipline.

In _God, the Flesh, and the Other, _the philosopher Emmanuel Falque joins the ongoing debate about the role of theology in phenomenology. An important voice in the second generation of French philosophy’s “theological turn,” Falque examines philosophically the fathers of the Church and the medieval theologians on the nature of theology and the objects comprising it. Falque works phenomenology itself into the corpus of theology. Theological concepts thus translate into philosophical terms that phenomenology should legitimately question: concepts from contemporary (...) phenomenology such as onto-theology, appearance, reduction, body/flesh, inter-corporeity, the genesis of community, intersubjectivity, and the singularity of the other find penetrating analogues in patristic and medieval thought forged through millennia of Christological and Trinitarian debate, mystical discourses, and speculative reflection. Through Falque’s wide-ranging interpretive path, phenomenology finds itself interrogated—and renewed. (shrink)

W. E. B. Du Bois was a public intellectual, sociologist, and activist on behalf of the African American community. He profoundly shaped black political culture in the United States through his founding role in the NAACP, as well as internationally through the Pan-African movement. Du Bois's sociological and historical research on African-American communities and culture broke ground in many areas, including the history of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. Du Bois was also a prolific author of novels, autobiographical accounts, innumerable (...) editorials and journalistic pieces, and several works of history. Written in very accessible prose, these two booklets, originally published in 1930, allowed W. E. B. Du Bois to reach a wide audience with an interest in Africa. What is so incredible about the two Africa booklets is their lasting relevance and value to the study of Africa today. Coupling Du Bois's breadth of scholarship with his passion for the subjects, the analyses in these booklets are integral to the study of Africa. Many of his arguments foreshadowed the issues and debates regarding Africa in the twentieth century. Expertly synthesized in an introduction by Emmanuel Akyeampong, this edition of the two Africa booklets is essential for anyone interested in African history. (shrink)

This study correlates the traditional Christian notion of communion of saints, found in the Apostles' Creed, to the notions of community developed in the twentieth century by the personalist philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. Through this correlation the study is able to re-examine the notion communion of saints and its theological and anthropological foundations. ;The sources and antecedents of communion of saints are examined from scripture and early church history, the first uses of the phrase, its subsequent development as a notion, (...) and its relationship to the eucharist. Next there is a presentation and examination of contemporary theological understandings which use this notion. Emmanuel Levinas's notions of community are presented and discussed, leading up to a correlation with communion of saints on the issues of grace, reciprocity, reward, fusion and the divine. The study shows that Levinas's thought, especially his notion of the primacy of responsibility, has been shaped by his religious convictions. He is essentially doing a phenomenology of the individual touched by grace, who is called to a community of agape through sharing in the divine life. ;Using Levinas as a dialogue partner in the discussion advances the theological understanding of communion of saints from a "common sense" notion to a theological concept. We can say that the Other becomes a presence of God for the self, and the communion of Others who surround the individual with love and support is the manifestation of the outpouring of God's grace. Communion of saints is then a doctrine concerned with our living, graced and sanctified interrelationship with other believers and all others, a spiritual communion based in the life of God and expressed in community, participation and mutuality. It becomes an active spiritual union for those who recognize their dependence upon God for their entire existence and humanity, and who see each other as sisters and brothers by virtue of their common filiation. This notion, now enhanced by our discussion, has implications for church practices, structures, ecumenism and relationship to the world at large. (shrink)

Examines the notion of passivity in the work of Levinas, Blanchot, and Agamben.

This critical review accomplished two main tasks: first, the article provides scope for identifying the most common conceptions of moral competence in the scientific literature, as well as the different ways to measure this type of competence. Having moral judgment is the most popular element of moral competence, but the literature introduces many other elements. The review also shows there is a plethora of ways to measure moral competence, either in standardized tests providing scores or other non-standardized tests. As a (...) second task, the article reflects critically on the general use of the idea of moral competence. Results suggest that this idea functions as what philosopher Bernard Williams would have called a thin ethical concept. Thin concepts are not problematic in and of themselves if they are used as linguistic shorthand, however, there may be shortcomings in the literature on moral competence because the idea is not rooted in more substantive views or theories in a way that is both clear and coherent. (shrink)

This dissertation reconsiders the relationship between rhetoric and ethics in response to the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, which claims that ethics is grounded in the "face" and "call" of the Other. It accepts Levinas's reconception of ethics and criticism of rhetoric as an opportunity to reconceptualize and rearticulate the relationship between rhetoric and ethics. Insisting, in disagreement with Levinas, that the encounter with the Other is always ideologically framed, chapter one articulates an "Other ethics for rhetoric" in which (...) ethics is the end/goal of rhetoric. Chapter two clarifies this view through comparisons with several standard approaches to communication ethics. ;With an initial conception of an Other-centered ethics for rhetoric, chapter three examines the roles of self and Other in the communicative encounter. Pursuing Levinas's distinction between "ontology" and "metaphysics," chapter three compares the "ethical" theories of Mikhail Bakhtin and Levinas, arguing that Bakhtin's notion of "answerability" characterizes the self's role, while Levinas's notion of "responsibility" characterizes the Other's role. Chapter four further investigates the role of the Other within the communicative encounter through a critique of Jurgen Habermas's "discourse ethics," claiming that the only "necessary and universal presupposition of communication" is the acknowledgement of the Other. ;Chapter five then argues, through an examination of the work of Kenneth Burke, for the necessity of attending to both self and Other in rhetorical theory and criticism. Chapter five argues that Burke deflects the Other in his "definition of man" and dramatistic pentad, and offers instead a definition of human beings and dramatistic nonad. Chapter six extends the concepts of ideology and ethics, introduced in chapter one, arguing that a distinction between ideological and ethical imperatives explodes the traditional objectivism/relativism dichotomy. Chapter six concludes by discussing the relationship between ethical rhetoric and political discourse. Finally, chapter seven demonstrates the implications of an Other-centered conception of ethics for rhetorical criticism, by offering an ethical-rhetorical analysis of Nazi discourse, a comparative nonadic analysis of the rhetorics of Adolf Hitler and Martin Luther King, Jr., and analyses of cultural discourses concerning fat women and medical treatment decisions for premature newborns. (shrink)